• 15 May 2009

Things have been crazy around here, mostly due to a huge project we undertook a few months ago--renovating a 400-year-old stone cottage in southern France (pictured right). It's become such a big part of our life that I can't keep it to myself any longer! Plus, I know if I don't document it here, it won't be documented at all; and I want to remember all the little details and nuances associated with renovating this old home.

I thought it would be fun to start regularly featuring posts detailing the renovation process from step 1. I may throw in one post per week, or perhaps more. We'll see how this flows...If any of you have done this before, please share any tips! Also welcomed are style ideas for the interior...I have less than a month to make some crucial decisions regarding such. Thanks in advance!

So here we go with Step #1: finding this cottage.

The Husband and I are big fans of Rick Steves Guidebooks. He's been there for us on previous trips and during our last family vacation we consulted his expert wisdom yet again. On the pages of Rick Steves: France, he mentions a lovely town in the Dordogne region called Beynac-et-Cazenac. The region itself sounded spectacular--if you love a good Medieval castle or two, great food, amazing scenery and an interesting history.

We explored our options for lodging via VRBO and to our surprise, found a lovely home owned by a couple in Utah (where we lived at the time). We couldn't believe it! What are the odds? We ended up booking a week and at that point the wheels started turning. We thought, "if they live in Utah and manage a home in Beynac, perhaps we can do it too?" We always wanted to have a rental property as an investment, but overseas? Pourquoi pas?

During our vacation we fell in love with the place. It seemed perfect! Initially out of pure curiosity the Husband contacted the local agent (this is where a French-speaking spouse comes in handy) and arranged to see all 3 of the homes up for sale in this town. It's a tiny town :) All were lovely, but only one was in our price range. What we did next, we found out later, is not nearly as common in France as it is in here in America and even a little taboo. We submitted an offer that was below asking price. Also included in our offer was the reasoning behind the price submitted. We wanted to explain in detail to the homeowner all of the renovations we hoped to make to the home and how we wanted to make it even more magical. I gave the offer a 5% chance of being accepted.

After submitting our offer, we left on a little rendezvous with our friends to Italy. We were having so much fun on our first getaway sans kids in years (!!), that we failed to check in with our agent as to the status of our offer. Although we didn't mean to act uninterested, this actually played out in our favor as we appeared to not care whether they accepted our offer or not. The owner came back with a "yes, if you add in ___ " and we accepted. Then, we looked at each other with a nervous laugh and said, "what have we gotten ourselves into?". We had no idea...

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comments:

Okay, I'm speechless! I'm so glad you are sharing this excitement. I was just thinking of your trip to Paris with your sister yesterday and was inspired once again to make things happen. . . and now this -- so fantastic! You are amazing!

OH my goodness. I LOVE that photo (you posted it before with that color palette website, right?) and I cannot believe you own that. And now I know where I'm staying when I finally get to go to France! :) I can't wait to see more details.

Jill, Emily: yes, we will be renting the home upon completion. The cottage will not be a "second home", but rather a vacation property. Hopefully every now and again we'll get there ourselves but in the meantime, we hope that many, many people will find themselves enjoying a vacation in the Dordogne...and staying here!

wow. not only is that picture breathtaking, but the fact that you're really doing this is unbelievable! how very fun. something i imagined someone could do in their 50s or 60s, but at your age, how fabulous!

oh, stephanie! this is so exciting (and i am secretly just feeling a tinge of envy) to hear about all the things you'll be doing!! what a great thing to embark on, and i can't wait to see what updates you post...

OH. WOW. I cannot believe you've had all this exciting venture going on and haven't shared it before, Steph! SO. COOL! Sharmyn and I have talked about how fun it would be to do something like this... once you got past the headache of it all, right?

So, can I just go on record now as saying that I'd love to rent your house for a week next year? I love the idea of renting a home and being 'local' for a week. Pencil me in...

And I'm TOTALLY looking forward to more posts on this exciting project. Please keep them coming!

Tish, We stayed in a place in Vernazza (where we rented the boat) that we found in rick steves Italy. It was pretty basic and not very expensive. I do remember that some if the rooms had views (not ours) and it was really a matter if luck. Book soon though as places fill up super fast in this little town. Have fun!

Oh my goodness! That is the coolest thing ever. I had to look at the picture twice because I thought it was a painting. Lucky you! Please put my family down on the guest list when the renovations are done.

holy cow and i thought having a rental property 3 hours away was cool ;-) But, FRANCE!!?!?!?! Can't wait to hear more about it and more about how you plan to spend time over there with your sweet family.

WOWZA! A home abroad, what a lovely dream come true. This was so exciting to discover while reaing your blog today, congrats. Thank you for sharing and looking forward to reading the posts on your lovely Paris home in the future :)

I am so excited that you are not only taking on this adventure, but also that you are sharing it your readers. Having lived outside the U.S for the past few years now (first in the Caribbean, and now in the UK), I often find myself on the receiving end of comments like “well, it’s good that you are doing this now because you could never do it once you settle down and have kids..”. Yet living abroad, or investing in a property abroad, isn’t as half as farfetched as people make it out to be. I believe that everyone should do it if given the opportunity, no matter what stage of life they are in. Thus, I am so glad that you ceased the opportunity, rather than rationalizing your way out it. It will surely be challenging at times- the US has a certain efficiency that you simply don’t find in most other countries, and I know firsthand how frustrating the cultural and legal differences can be. However, it will all be worth it in the end & I hope you family can get out there and enjoy the house as much as possible. I can’t wait to hear about the renovation process!

Steph and the Husband: Well done! Hoorah for Beynac-et-Cazenac and Hoorah for you! I look forward to seeing more about your renovations and guarantee that this will be an inspiration to your idle moments (do you have any of those?). Thanks for sharing and therefore being an inspiration to us too!

That picture looks like something out of a dream. Way to seize the opportunity!

P.S. I've been a fan of your blog since I discovered it a few months ago, but I don't think I've commented before now. This post was enough to bring me out of lurker-ville. I'm so excited you'll be posting details about the renovation!

How fantastic for you! Ben and I are going on a Mediterranean cruise in 6 days with a stop near Nice, France and I know one day there just won't be long enough....now I know where I can stay on my next trip!

Wow! That is so amazing, we are in the throes of a total gut rehab in our own neighborhood, an 1840's brownstone. My husband is the acting GC, in addition to his having another business to run. We can keep our eye on the project and even with all this, it is a major headache. I can't imagine doing a renovation in another country, on a 500 year old castle to boot, it is so brave and exciting. I always wanted to do something similar in Italy, but for now I will just have to dream, and read about your experiences. Thanks so much for sharing.

oh wow ... i would be black and blue from pinching myself if given the opportunity to have such an exquisite piece of architecture ... just imagine the history and now it is going to be part of your history!wow, again ~ really looking forward to seeing more of your paradise ~ absolutely lovely ...thanks, thanks,prairiegirl

Wow! I love this! After my husband and son and I lived in Paris for a year we decided we want to work toward buying property in Normandy, so I am glad to see that small young families can do it too! Can't wait to see how it progresses.

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